The Celtics may have avoided the obvious worst case scenario with free-agent addition Danilo Gallinari’s knee injury. But it will still hit the 34-year-old forward with a delay to his 2022-23 campaign, according to the latest report out of Italy.

Per Sportando, Gallinari is dealing with a torn meniscus in his left knee, and will miss all of the Celtics’ upcoming training camp as part of a two month-long recovery.

That projected recovery timeline for Gallinari, who missed the entire 2013-14 season due to a torn ACL in that same knee, will also bleed into the regular season, with Gallinari expected to be fully recovered in November.

That, on a best case scenario recovery timeline, would mean that Gallinari would miss a six-game opening month of October for the 2022-23 Celtics.

The Celtics could also be ultra-cautious when it comes to Gallinari returning in November, too, as they open up November with four games in seven days, and have two sets of back-to-backs in the opening 12 days of the month.

Signed to a two-year, $13.3 million contract this summer, the 6-foot-10 Gallinari is coming to the Celtics after a 2021-22 campaign that included 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, along with a 43.4 field goal percentage (38.1 percentage from deep), in 66 games for the Hawks.

Not exactly considered a defensive stopper (something that’s unlikely to improve when another knee injury that’ll impact mobility), the Celtics have earmarked Gallinari for minutes as a second-team shooting threat from the No. 3 or No. 4.

A 14-year NBA veteran, Gallinari’s 10.4 points per game off the bench in 2021-22 ranked as the 18th-most per game among players with at least 40 appearances off the bench, while his 23.5 minutes per game off the bench were the 16th-most among that same group.

But Gallinari’s loss — at least for a little while, anyway — will be someone else’s gain, as the Celtics will have some considerable minutes to fill on a nightly basis until his return.

One player who could provide to be a legitimate challenger for ’em: Sam Hauser.

Jul 9, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Celtics forward Sam Hauser (30) dribbles ahead of Heat guard Jamaree Bouyea (52) during an NBA Summer League game at Cox Pavilion. (Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports)

Signed to a two-way contract out of college following the 2021 NBA Draft, the 6-foot-8 Hauser turned his limited Celtic run of 157 minutes and change of NBA play into a standard NBA contract in February and then a multi-year, $6 million contract earlier this summer.

The NBA sample has been a promising one, too, with Hauser knocking down 23 of his 50 shots at the NBA level (including a 19-for-44 mark from three-point range) during his time with Boston. If that can translate properly as the minutes increase, that’s some welcomed secondary scoring.

Dec 1, 2021; Miami, Florida, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Denzel Valentine (45) reacts against the Miami Heat during the fourth quarter at FTX Arena. (Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports)

But the Celtics have made sure that the competition will be across the board in this year’s training camp, as the team will have four former first-round picks in camp in search of an NBA roster spot.

That group includes 2016 first-round pick (No. 14 overall) Denzel Valentine, 2014 first-round picks Noah Vonleh (No. 9 overall) and Bruno Caboclo (No. 30 overall), as well as 2019 first-round pick Mfiondu Kabengele (No. 27 overall).